Treasury Board rules could heighten risk in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The lives of Canadian soldiers could be put
at greater risk because of Treasury Board regulations that prevent Task Force
Kandahar from continuing to employ its best cultural advisers.

About half a dozen of Canada’s top advisers, who are ethnic Afghans with
Canadian citizenship, have been told that they cannot be rehired when their
current contracts expire. They are being let go because of government rules
that state that if they work for more than three years for any federal
department they must be offered permanent employment in the public service.

The often highly educated advisers attend top level meetings between NATO,
Canadian and Afghan officials and regularly accompany Canadian troops on
dangerous combat missions to provide on-the-spot political and cultural
guidance.

The issue has not only infuriated the advisers, who want to continue working
with Canadian troops, but has frustrated the officers whose soldiers work with
the cultural advisers alongside Afghan forces.

While no one in the military comments directly at the risk factor, officers
say the role the mentors play is valuable to Canadian troops.

“Mentoring is the key to the lock and a good cultural adviser opens the door
for NATO troops. He facilitates our job on the ground. A good adviser has lots
of experience and provides wise advice as we conduct operations,” said Col. Ian
Creighton, the outgoing commander of Canada’s Operational Mentor Liaison Team
(OMLT), which works closely with Afghan combat forces in Kandahar.

“We’re fighting a war so you need to be flexible with policies so we can
engage and leverage those we need to assist us with operations.”

One of the Afghan-Canadians caught up in Ottawa’s red tape is called
‘Yousef’ – the advisers don’t use their real names because of fears for their
safety and the safety of their relatives in Canada and Afghanistan.

“I want to come back and finish what I started,” said Yousef, whose three-
year time limit expires next month.

“This is a war where billions of dollars are being spent so I do not
understand how hiring five or six guys is such a big deal for a country the
size of Canada. Even if I had the possibility of a full-time government job,
I’m not sure I’d accept it.”

To loud applause from Canadian and Afghan troops, Yousef – who speaks
English, Russian, Dari and Pushto and is the only adviser who speaks French –
was awarded a special commendation Friday by Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner for his
service to Task Force Kandahar.

“Yousef is priceless. He is always there for us 24/7,” Creighton said,
adding that he hoped that a way would be found to keep him working with
Canadian troops.

“There are always exceptions that can be made,” he said.

The same Treasury Board regulations are expected to seriously hamper
Canadian plans to establish a training mission elsewhere in Afghanistan when
the combat mission in Kandahar ends next summer. The 750 trainers and 200
support staff that the Harper government is devoting to that new assignment
require dozens of cultural advisers. But the best and most experienced ones
will be prevented by Canadian policy from being part of that deployment.

“If I’ve done this difficult mission, of course I want to continue with the
easy one,” Yousef said. “That (training `inside the wire’) will be a holiday
compared to what this mission (mentoring `outside the wire’) has been like.”

Before his contract expires, Yousef is to work for the next month with Col.
Hercule Gosselin, who assumed command Friday of what is to be Canada’s last
OMLT. The OMLT is to be disbanded when the Canadian combat mission packs up
next July.

“My team is looking at building on the momentum that has been created and
accelerating the process,” Gosselin said. “We are going to focus on areas where
they (the Afghan army) may need more assistance. We are going to take time to
see where that is.”

The Afghan army had asked Canada to continue its mentoring program, said
Brig.-Gen. Ahmed Habibi, who commands the brigade in Kandahar that is coached
by the OMLT that Gosselin will command.

“We need help and ask Canada to continue with its help,” the highly regarded
Afghan general said.

Habibi and a procession of senior Canadian officers spoke again Friday of
how greatly improved the security situation had become recently in Kandahar.
They largely attributed this to a huge buildup in Afghan and American forces in
the province. Where there was one Afghan and one Canadian brigade patrol last
year, there were now two Afghan, one Canadian and two American brigades.

“They have been defeated out there on the battlefield,” Creighton said of
the Taliban. “There is definite victory here.”